Empire of Pain: The Opiod Crisis, PART ONE

In this episode, we cover the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma, OxyContin, and the start of America’s opioid crisis. The story begins with medical advertising, museum prestige, and the doctor-focused marketing that helped turn a Brooklyn family of physicians into one of the most powerful names in pharmaceuticals.

We trace OxyContin’s 1995 approval, Purdue’s push into chronic pain treatment, the misleading claim that addiction was rare, and the early warnings from Appalachia. The trail leads to the 2007 federal guilty plea for misbranding OxyContin and a drug campaign that turned pain into profit.

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Links:

Website: timeandtalespodcast.com

Email: timeandtalespodcast@gmail.com

Dark History Books: https://www.lmriviere.com/anthologies

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Sources:

• Barry, Meier. Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic. 2nd ed., Random House, 2018.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic.” CDC, 2024.
• General Accounting Office. Prescription Drugs: OxyContin Abuse and Diversion and Efforts to Address the Problem. GAO-04-110, U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2003.
• Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P. 603 U.S. ___, Supreme Court of the United States, 2024.
• Keefe, Patrick Radden. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. Doubleday, 2021.
• Macy, Beth. Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America. Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
• Meier, Barry. “Origins of an Epidemic: Purdue Pharma Knew Its Opioids Were Widely Abused.” The New York Times, 2018.
• Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. “The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. and Top Executives Plead Guilty to Misbranding OxyContin; Will Pay Over $600 Million.” U.S. Department of Justice, 10 May 2007.
• United States v. Purdue Pharma L.P. U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, 2026.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Timeline of Selected FDA Activities and Significant Events Addressing Substance Use and Overdose Prevention.” FDA.
• U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform. “The Role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family in the Opioid Epidemic.” 2020.
• UCSF-Johns Hopkins University. Opioid Industry Documents Archive. University of California, San Francisco, and Johns Hopkins University, 2021.
• Van Zee, Art. “The Promotion and Marketing of OxyContin: Commercial Triumph, Public Health Tragedy.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 99, no. 2, 2009, pp. 221–227.